Our volunteers in the UK have been busy this morning. Coal industry bigwigs are holding their annual jamboree at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, where energy minister Malcolm Wicks was to give the opening speech earlier today. But greeting him and other fossil fuel fans were two-metre high fences barricading the entrance with attendant volunteers protesting about the ongoing collusion between government and industry.
And colluding they have been. Documents we received recently reveal that policy makers are bending over backwards to accommodate the wishes of E.on, the energy giant which wants to build the first new coal-fired power station in the UK for over 30 years. In the pipeline are proposals for several more and if the one at Kingsnorth goes ahead (the one that more volunteers scaled back in October and are awaiting trial), the floodgates will be opened.
We didn’t stop at the gates though and, when Malcolm Wicks was preparing to speak, plants in the audience delivered our own, alternative address. Plus Sir Paul McCartney stopped by to wish everyone luck.
There’s a growing movement building against new coal in the UK. The government will decide on Kingsnorth very soon, but we want a public inquiry and we’re prepared to fight for it.(Jamie)
